There were countries we never wished to meet in the group stage of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. In fact, we took it upon ourselves to pray against meeting our constant nightmares like Canada, England, Australia, and the USA. These countries were ranked in the top ten in women's football ratings, while my dear country, Nigeria, although ranked first in Africa, was far beyond them.
"Haaaaa! Again! Not again! Why did they place us in this group of death?" This was on every Nigerian's mouth when we saw that they drew us in a group containing Canada, Australia, and Ireland. These teams were far better than us, and the chance of escaping from this group was 10%.
Ifeanyi, the only guy in my street that enjoys female football just like I do, came and suggested we make a bet.
"A bet?" I asked.
"Yes na, is it not you that's boasting of Nigeria girls to survive in this group of death?" He sounded so sure like has seen the future already.
"Okay, I'm in, let's go. I'm very confident in our girls," I agreed, and we staked N2,000 each.
A few days before the kickoff of the tournament, we met and reminded ourselves of the N2,000 staked on Nigeria coming out of the group.
Our first game was with Canada, with their goal scoring machine, Sinclair, the most decorated player in the Canada team. We were the underdogs, not expecting a win at all; a draw result was all we needed to keep our hope of escaping the group.
The match was scheduled to happen at 2:00 am Nigerian time, and I was awake to watch the match.
Gosh! The Canadian ladies taunted us so hard, controlled and possessed the ball to the fullest, and all our girls did was defend, as they needed only a draw game.
"Piiiiiiii!" The referee blew the whistle, and it's a penalty kick against Nigeria. This time, my adrenaline pushed up to 1,000%, goosebumps took over my skin, and the midnight cold caught me. I wasn't so concerned about my N2,000 bet with Ifeanyi; all I wanted was for us to win or get a draw.
Before I knew it, the goal-scoring demon, Sinclair, picked the ball to play the penalty. At this moment, all hope was lost, our only hope of escaping flew out into thin air. She placed the ball on the penalty spot, walked back a little and positioned herself like Ronaldo, while our goalkeeper stayed in the middle of the goalpost jingling left and right.
"Piiiii!" The referee blew the whistle.
The penalty shooter shot the ball, and our goalkeeper tipped it out with her hands.
I shouted very loudly, "Yeeeeeeeeeee!" not minding it's midnight. The joy within me knew no bounds; I began to rumble on my bed out of excitement. I was still jubilating when my phone rang; I checked, and it was Ifeanyi.
"Guy, that goalkeeper tried ooo! She saved Sinclair's penalty, that's very unusual" Ifeanyi said fastly as if his airtime was running out.
"Bro, I'm still surprised, it seems I'm dreami..." I didn't finish my word when the call ended.
Miraculously, the match ended that day with a draw score, just as we wanted, which gave us a firm chance of escaping the group of death.
The next match was with Australia, the 5th-ranked team according to FIFA. The match was a determinant, and if we could pull a draw match with them, which was totally impossible, we could get a sure ground of surviving.
The match day came; I made sure I ate well before watching, in order not to faint in case my adrenaline gets dragged beyond my control. I bought a bottle of Coca-Cola and placed it on my table as I watched the match.
The match started, and within 20 mins, the Australian ladies put a swift goal in our net. My morale automatically went down, hope was lost again, but before I knew it, just before the end of the 1st half, we equalised, and the goal put the whole Nigerians in a joyful mood. I could hear shouts of "gooaaaaaal!" in the air, which gave me so much joy knowing that I wasn't the only one in the town watching the match.
The first half ended; a lot of applause was given to the girls everywhere on social media.
When the second half started, we scored another goal, and hey, the joy in the whole nation was immeasurable. We just beat the almighty Australia, and that gave us our escape route out of the group of death.
"Ifeanyi, come and give me my N2,000, and it must be now!" That evening, I saw Ifeanyi when he was trying to sneak through the road in our street.
"My brother, I'm happy for you ooo. Just give me a little more time; I'll, for sure, give you the money." Ifeanyi didn't give me that chance to banter at him; he walked away as he pleaded.
Till today, he didn't give me the N2,000, and I wasn't bothered at all. My joy when we escaped the group of death was more for me.